jesus is here

hola. the first 3 days of this trip have been more than i bargained for. the conditions shocked me from the moment we stepped off the plane to the time we drove down the streets of cite militaire (pastor's rigaud's orpanage). third world poverty finally has a face and a name for me.

yesterday was all work and a little play (frank, ben, matt and myself found some time for basketball). we used picks and shovels to dig out an extension of the courtyard driveway for the church/school and then formed an assembly line to pass buckets from the hand-made concrete pile to the newly dug ditch.

this morning we passed 25-30 pound blocks up 3 stories to the roof. good times. we were so efficient, thanks to the genius of chris brown, that we completed a whole day's work in 3 hours time! thus, we got to spend the rest of the afternoon playing soccer outside and blowing bubbles with the kids in the orphanage. about an hour ago ben, matt, karen, amy m and myself got back from taking a trip in the back of a small pick-up truck to deliver 50 pound bags of rice to families in a part of puerto prince called cite soleil.

my time hear has felt like a whirlwind. every possible emotion has been felt and i am struggling to process all that i have witnessed. i know that jen and i will be change forever. she has been amazing with the kids down here, but i'm sure she'll write about her time with them on her own.

one particular conversation i had with doug bruce was quite eye-opening to me. he asked me what my impressions were and i went on to tell him about how the conditions were worse than i had imagined. he said, "oh, so you're an adult." i said, "i guess i am." we explained how the younger kids that come down tend to notice the happiness of the children. it was a great lesson for me to learn. i need to think less like an adult sometimes.

i'm discovering jesus in the faces of the people of haiti. the streets flow with sewage and the people have very little to eat from day to day. however, they are not complaining about their lack of stuff and they sing, literally, all hours of the night for God's many blessings (seriously, i haven't slept because they start singing at the church next door at 3 am every morning!). i pray that i will always be content, no matter what my circumstances may be.

-dave-